Mr. Kevin Sherry:

I will cover some of the issues and I will call on some of my colleagues to address the other issues. I will start by responding to the question raised by Deputy Eric Byrne on the ease of doing business and business regulations. First, I would say that Ireland ranks very highly on the table of ease of doing business. In terms of Ireland as a location from which to operate, it is a very attractive location. It is one of the compelling factors that the IDA would promote overseas in terms of multinational companies locating here and likewise it is one that Enterprise Ireland would promote because we have responsibility for foreign direct investment into the country in the food area.

In terms of doing business with companies in the Asia-Pacific region and the ASEAN region, it is quite a diverse region. If we compare two locations such as Singapore and Indonesia, they are very different. The ease of doing business in Singapore and the ease at which companies can operate there ranks very highly. However, in the likes of Indonesia it is a quite a different situation. The ease for companies to do business both within the country and for Irish exporters seeking to export to that country would be very different. In many cases when we talk to Irish companies about trading with other countries it is not so much a question of any barriers associated with regulations within Ireland, it is the accessibility of the countries they are trying to target to sell their goods or services. Within Ireland the ease with which companies can do business is important.

The importance of low regulation - I do not mean ineffective regulation but in terms of ease of doing business in the country - is very important because they are operating on the international stage and competing with global players. The fact that the Irish companies have been competing and winning and we have seen the results on the export side across multiple markets is evidence that at the moment Ireland is an effective location for doing business and we need that to continue.

In response to Senator Walsh, on the export side, Enterprise Ireland as an organisation produces and publishes a three-year plan where we set out our targets very clearly. There are employment and export targets. In our most recent plan, completed in 2013, we exceeded all of the targets. Our plan is to exceed our targets in the current 2014-16 business plan. We got off to a strong start in 2014 with exports increasing by 9.9% and employment substantially above the initial target set.

In exports to high growth markets, companies are starting from a lower base but as a result we have put more resources into those markets and have set a higher target, to increase from a little over €2 billion to €3 billion within that three-year period. It is an ambitious target but we believe we can achieve it. It is one of the reasons why we have put proportionately increased resources into those markets and why we had extensive discussions with Government about the need to deploy more resources in those markets because it does require more feet on the ground. We work company by company and going into those markets we focus on specific sectors, which we believe provide accessible opportunities to Irish companies and where we believe those companies have the capability and the resilience to go after them. It is noticeable that in the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific region a longer-term commitment is required to secure and win business than in many other markets. In respect of the culture of that market it is necessary to develop long-term relationships and that means companies putting feet on the ground in those markets. As a prelude to companies’ winning business in those markets they must commit and put boots on the ground. There are 171 Irish companies present in the ASEAN region. It is more like a marathon than a sprint winning business in those markets.

I was asked about the number of staff and offices. We cannot have substantial resources in every market, we do not have the resources for that. We need to be flexible. We need people to be able to move resources as clients demand. We have our own resources and we leverage off other resources. I mentioned pathfinders, which are trade consultants in different markets. These are people we have identified who have specific expertise in a particular sector, for example, telecommunications and we would link companies we operate and support in that sector with this individual and work across markets.

Deputy O’Sullivan asked about the workforce, I will ask my colleague Mr. Byrne to expand on my answer. In terms of salary levels in Enterprise Ireland client companies, in addition to exports an important factor for us is the spend within Ireland and the amount of money Irish companies spend on wages and on goods and services in Ireland. They need to be competitive and are constantly focused on that. For us as an organisation, we have increasingly focused on competitiveness and lean practices. We do substantial work with hundreds of companies in helping them improve their productivity and competitiveness. That is a very important factor in ensuring that companies have operations that are efficient but can and do pay wages appropriate to the country in which we operate. Ireland is not a low-cost economy and never will be. The type of business we assist companies in supporting is to try to develop companies that have strong intellectual property, are investing in research and development, have strong operations and have resources and capabilities in Ireland that are not based solely on cost but on other competitive factors.

The Deputy also asked about corruption and ethical issues. Enterprise Ireland focuses on business. We work very closely with our colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We are co-located with them in most locations. We work closely with our clients in identifying potential customers and assessing their bona fides and the way they operate. We also, as part of our supports for companies, have what we call a net international programme or excel at selling programme, one module of which is focused on developing capability within companies on cultural understanding of how to operate in business. Irish companies operating in international markets have their own reputation to protect. Companies operating perhaps in the Asia region and the Gulf region also do business in the US and Europe and they would be acutely aware that if they do not pursue appropriate business practices and adhere to proper procedures their reputation will be at risk in other locations. There is a fundamental, compelling business argument for those companies to ensure they operate effectively. In terms of TTIP, the US is a very important market for Irish companies and we do believe there are substantial opportunities assuming the successful completion of the negotiations.

From the point of view of women in the developing world, Enterprise Ireland has focused on women in business and many other countries are watching Ireland and what we do in this area. We have focused on this in the start-up area because there was a very low level of participation by females in start-up companies and we focused on increasing that over the past three years. The percentage of their involvement in high potential start-ups and early stage start-ups that we have supported has gone from single digits to 23%. We believe that by focusing on a particular area it is possible to achieve results. Our focus on female entrepreneurship has proved that.

I will ask my colleague, Mr. Byrne, to respond to Deputy Crowe’s question about regional balance in jobs.